Dow Jones Newswire ... Twitter is bolstering its video ad capabilities with a new feature enabling marketers to easily place pre-roll ads in professionally-produced video content across its platform, the company announced Thursday.
The new option, which is part of Twitter's Amplify program, will allow marketers to automatically place six-second ads before videos from a range of publishers without having existing relationships with those publishers. It's essentially an automated marketplace, or ad network, for pre-roll video on Twitter.
For example, a marketer might choose to serve up ads before sports videos, but only to men under 34 years old. In that instance, Twitter will use its data and technology to dynamically insert ads into the most relevant videos being watched by that audience, the company said.
Publishers that have agreed to participate in the beta version of the marketplace include BuzzFeed, Vox Media, Aol, Fox, MTV , Time, Mashable, Funny Or Die, and Univision. But Twitter said it is open to working with other publishers and content producers as well.
According to Twitter, the new feature will make it easier for publishers to monetize their video across its service. Publishers can simply upload and publish their content through Twitter's video dashboard and begin collecting revenue immediately as ads are automatically placed before it.
All publishers will have option to monetize their videos. Publishers need only check a box, said Baljeet Singh , senior product director at Twitter.
Twitter will take 30% of the revenue generated from the ads and the content producer will retain 70%, the company said. That's a more favorable split than the one currently being offered by Google's YouTube video platform or Facebook , which keep 45% of revenue generated by ads placed in their content.
The new marketplace is designed to make it easier for advertisers and content owners to connect through its Amplify program. Previously, advertisers dealt directly with publishers to place ads in their content, and then paid Twitter to promote that content to users through Amplify. Advertisers and users can still use that model if they wish, but the new offering is designed to streamline the process and allow it to scale more effectively for both marketers and content owners.
Twitter announced the new feature at an event in New York on Thursday afternoon. Senior executives, including newly-appointed Chief Executive Jack Dorsey and newly appointed Chief Operating Officer Adam Bain , appeared on stage to address hundreds of marketers and agency ad buyers.
Write to Jack Marshall at Jack.Marshall@wsj.com
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10-08-15 1701ET
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